Metro-North Railroad set to approve four new stations for East Bronx

Metro-North Railroad is close to approving four new stations in four Bronx neighborhoods, including the notoriously underserved apartment complex Co-op City, which houses more than 60,000 residents.

The project to add Metro-North stops in Co-op City, Morris Parks, Parkchester and Hunts Point is expected to run about $350 million, a relative bargain compared to the Second Avenue subway’s $5.3 billion cost and the $2 billion price tag on the extension of the No. 7 train into the West Side.

The Bronx has the highest reverse-commute rate in the country, with people flowing out of the city’s only mainland borough to suburban locales in Westchester and Connecticut, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority data.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. called the plan to build a commuter railroad station in the community the “most important transportation investment in the Bronx since construction of the subways during the early 20th century,” Crain’s reported.

Currently, the closest subway stops to the 35 high-rises in Co-op City are the No. 5 and the No. 6, which are a 20-minute bus ride away. The proposed station for Morris Park would be located just several blocks from four major hospitals: The Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Jacobi Medical Center, Calvary Hospital and Montefiore Medical Center, which alone employs 17,500 people, a third of whom commute from outside the Bronx.